Difference between revisions of "Lumar"

Owing to the moons being of equal distance to one another, each sea is of the same size, and roughly the same pentagonal shape.{{book ref|tress|42}} This functions geometrically as twelve pentagons canthat tesselate the sphere, and due to the shape of the seas and the planet, each sea would border five others, with three around each vertex. The surface is uneven -- each sea is effectively a pile of sand, highest at the lunagree and lower on the border, where spores of the neighboring seas intermingle. However, the sheer size of the seas makes the incline imperceptible unless one is extremely close to the peak.{{book ref|tress|46}} Far below the surface, the seafloor is full of thermal vents that pump out great amounts of air bubbles, along with the decomposition process of the spores{{wob ref|16131}}. This leads to the spores [[wikipedia:Fluidization|fluidizing]], which makes the oceans behave akin to liquid. The locals call this process '''the seethe'''. The seethe usually lasts days; however, it will commonly pause for varying periods of time, known as '''stillings''' leaving all ships sailing across it '''sporelocked''' until it picks up again.{{book ref|tress|8}}{{book ref|tress|12}} During those periods of calm, the ocean is solid enough to walk on, though one must exercise great care when doing so.{{book ref|tress|12}}

Though Lumar's waterdoes cyclehave doesa existwater cycle, it is poorly understood. Clouds take the form of narrow ribbons that weave swiftly along the sky, creating curtains of rain known as '''rainlines'''. As the water energizes the spores, squalls cause massive manifestations of the aethers' elements, making them a further danger to living beings. However, over most oceans, squalls are predictable; a ribbon of rain will always follow the same pathway, enough so that the Lumarans create rain maps that can accurately predict their locations for centuries.{{book ref|tress|35}}

It's unknown what, if any relation there is between the Iriali of Lumar and the Iriali of the [[Roshar]]an kingdom of [[Iri]]. The timing of the Lumarans' departure from their planet makes it impossible for them to be the Rosharans' ancestors,{{ref|group=fn|text=Iriali departed Lumar three hundred years prior to the start of ''[[Tress of the Emerald Sea]]''; ''Tress'' takes place after the events of ''[[The Stormlight Archive]]'' (as evidenced by [[Sazed]] having released the [[kandra]] and the technology on display), and on [[Roshar]], the kingdom of [[Iri]] existed for thousands of years prior to the start of ''The Stormlight'' Archive; as such, it is mathematically impossible for the Lumaran Iriali to depart Lumar, travel to Roshar and start the Kingdom of Iri.}} but it is impossible to determine if the Lumarans were descended from the inhabitants of Roshar, or if they were a different, separate group within the same cosmere-wide culture.

Piracy is a common and accepted part of sea travel on Lumar. Pirate ships chase down the merchant vessels and shoot only to disable, using water-filled cannonballs to activate the spores and trap the ships in them. A captured merchant ship then surrenders an agreed-upon sum of goods and money -- called a '''ransom price''' -- whereupon both ships part ways somewhat amicably. The king's marshals keep records of what ships prey on others and what was robbed and stolen; in the event that a pirate crew is captured, this avoiding of unnecessary killing ensures that they are imprisoned rather than executed.{{book ref|tress|17}} Pirates are an important part of the economy, taking wealth from the rich, who simply hoard large amounts of wealth gathered from the people through the capitalistic systems in place on Lumar, therefore removing it from the system and keeping it from the people. They then inject it back into the system as a stimulus to help lower class merchants and other peoples.{{book ref|tress|17}}

* The word "Lumar" was coined by [[Isaac Stewart]], who came up with multiple names for the planet and presented them to Brandon. It was meant to evoke both fairy tales and the inspiration for ''[[Tress of the Emerald Sea]]'', ''[[wikipedia:The Princess Bride|The Princess Bride]]''.{{wob ref|15439}} It is most likely a portmanteau of the Latin words "luna" (moon) and "mare" (sea; also used for [[wikipedia:Lunar mare|plains on the Moon]] that early astronomers mistook for actual seas).